Subwoofer Set Up - Volume Levels

[punman]

I don't have a gauge yet to measure sound for my 5.1 system so doing it all by ear at the moment.
I have the volume on the subwoofer set for 2/3 of the way up and the receiver for 0 db on the override setting.
Does that seem like a good starting point?

[tcarcio]

That seems fine but how does it sound? Are you overdriving it? You want the sub to blend in nicely with your mains and not draw attention to it's location. Also if you put the sub in a corner you could get bit more out of it and actually might be able to bring the sub amp down a bit. Experiment with different locations and settings until it sounds good to you.

[eugovector]

Whether you have the level knob set to 3 or 11 won't tell us anything. Without a meter, the only thing you can trust is your own ears. Assuming you don't have an auto setup routine of any kind, do the following:

Set the crossover to 80HZ (assuming your other 5 speakers are rated below 80HZ +/- 3db)
Listen in stereo to a music track you know well with lots of deep bass. With the level setting in your AVR at 0db, adjust the level control on your sub until it sounds about right. Then sit back and do final minor adjustments with the level control in your AVR.

More problematic is going to be setting the levels of your 5 main speakers. That's very difficult to do by ear. My suggestion would be to take $30 to Radioshack as soon as you can.